Battlefield Tourism: An Examination of Events Held by European Institutions and Their Websites Related to Battlefields

The wars that have taken place throughout the history of mankind have brought many deaths and devastation. Throughout history, visits have been realized to areas where battles have taken place. In our age of information technology with the developments experienced in communication technologies, many experiences have emerged that directed the members of societies to tourism movements. One of these experiences is tourism movements for battlefields. In this research, the battlefields that existed throughout history but which have begun to be discussed recently in the academic world have been explored. European institutions and their websites related to battlefields examined. Three institutions and their websites determined after the application of snowball sampling method. Firstly qualitative information related to three institutions examined and secondly quantitative information regard to events advertised in institutions’ web sites analyzed. Finally, some suggestions have been put forward about the tourism demand and its structure for these areas

Precautions Taken Against the COVID-19 by Presidency of Religious Affairs in terms of Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage: The case of Turkey

The gathering of people in a concentrated manner within particular spaces / places has become a serious issue during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Mass gatherings of individuals seem to be investigated intensively by researchers both in these days and will be further in the forthcoming years. Religion-oriented gatherings are of great importance because they have spiritual motivation for the ones who practice them. For many participants, these gatherings are essential at least once in their life. As is seen from its very nature, religious motivation is one of the most potent subjects to be considered in terms of mass gatherings. Thus, as a useful example, the pilgrimage in Islam to Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia are the focus of this study. The international movements and gatherings stemming from religious motivation are a point of discussion in terms of the precautions which should be taken. Therefore, in this study, general information about these particular pilgrimages is provided, and the specific case of Turkey in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is investigated within the scope of the precautions taken by the Turkish authorities. The study was designed to present the publicly announced precautions organised by the official response to Turkish pilgrims by the Presidency of Religious Affairs

Reflections of Hajj and Umrah Pilgrimage on Religious Stores in Mugla-Turkey

Islam’s Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages comprise two of the oldest forms of religious tourism. Hajj and Umrah have some specific features which come from the Holy Quran and thus, those individuals wanting to participate in the pilgrimages have a number of needs and requirements, both before and after their journey. Therefore, this study is intended to present a profile of religious stores based on a tourist’s origin and destination. It concentrates on a relatively less studied component of pilgrimage tourism, this being religious stores, which mainly cater for potential pilgrims of Hajj and Umrah. These stores provide a contribution to the local economy even though this contribution cannot be readily quantified. The research was undertaken in the province of Mugla, Turkey, this being a popular mass tourism destination. The chain referral method was used in making the sample. In total, seventeen religious stores were identified as the sample for study. Questionnaires and interviews were undertaken to aid the data collection process. Data obtained from the owners of the stores were analysed and highlighted

How Visible Are Sacred Sites Online? : Availability of European sacred site websites

Sacred sites are places where the spiritual world meets the real world. Every culture in the world seeks to acclaim the mysterious, the divine, the martyred or the extraordinary. There are vast numbers of sacred places of prehistoric, historic and contemporary culture in the world. The internet has become a popular tool for gathering information about sacred sites as well as imagery and other required details related to the travel attraction of sacred sites. The internet sources possess an inevitable impact during the selection process of a sacred destination. This study aims to investigate the online background of sacred sites in Europe. Firstly, a list of sacred sites in Europe was prepared and then the online background of these sites was checked through the main web search engines. This study focuses on investigating the online status of sacred sites in Europe and it suggests avenues for tour operators, destination management actors and tourism stakeholders to improve the online presence of sacred sites in Europe

Adherence to systemic therapy in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic: A multicenter study

Background: Adherence to treatment is important in chronic dermatological diseases. There are limited data regarding the adherence to treatment in patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aims: We aimed to determine the rates of adherence to systemic treatments in patients with psoriasis and to identify the causes of non-adherence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional multicenter study from May 2021 to August 2021. A questionnaire including items regarding sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, disease-related characteristics, and treatment-related characteristics were filled out by the physicians. The Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI), Hospital Anxiety, and Depression Scale, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index were calculated. The rate of adherence and non-adherence to treatment and reasons for non-adherence to treatment were examined. Results: A total of 342 patients with psoriasis were included (182 male/160 female) in the study. The mean age of the patients was 45.9 ± 14.2 years. The average duration of psoriasis was 192 ± 134.7 months. While the rate of adherence to treatment was 57.6%, the rate of non-adherence to treatment was 42.4%. There were no significant differences with respect to adherence to treatment in comparison with oral and injection-therapy groups. The most frequent reasons for non-adherence to treatment were inability to go to the hospital (19.2%), concern about the COVID-19 infection (16.3%), discontinuation of the treatment by the doctor (13.7%), inability to reach the doctor (7.3%), and inability to have access to the medication (7.3%). Conclusion: Adherence to oral and injection therapies was fairly high among our patients with psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Psoriasis severity and duration of medication use had a negative impact on adherence to treatment

The value of dual-energy computed tomography in the evaluation of myocarditis

PURPOSEThe inflammation of the heart muscle is referred to as acute myocarditis. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) has become the primary method for a non-invasive assessment of myocardial inflammation. However, there are several drawbacks of CMR. During the last decade, dual energy computed tomography (DECT) has been used in cardiac imaging. The current study aims to assess the efficacy and feasibility of DECT in acute myocarditis and compare the results to CMR.METHODSThis prospective study included patients who had myocarditis but no coronary artery pathology. Two observers evaluated the patients for acute myocarditis using DECT and CMR. CMR was performed on 22 patients within 24 hours of DECT, which was administered within 12 hours following the onset of chest pain. Inter-observer agreement was tested with Cohen’s Kappa coefficient, and Spearman’s correlation was used to examine the possible correlations. A P value of <0.050 was accepted as statistically significant.RESULTSThe DECT and CMR agreement was significant for transmural diagnoses, excellent for subepicardial and intramyocardial diagnoses, and perfect for nodular and band-like patterns.CONCLUSIONThe findings of this study showed that the dark areas on the color-coded iodine map created with DECT were strongly correlated with CMR in acute cases of myocarditis. In addition, DECT is a robust imaging method that can also be used in the diagnosis of acute myocarditis. Furthermore, it provides information about coronary arteries faster and more reliably than magnetic resonance imaging without any limitations

The role of cardiac biomarkers as predictors of trastuzumab cardiotoxicity in patients with breast cancer

Aim: Identification of patient with increased risk of cardiotoxicity would allow not only prevention and early diagnosis of chemotherapy related cardiotoxicity but also administration of optimal dose and duration of chemotherapy. Materials and methods: Fifty-two women with HER2+ breast cancer treated with trastuzumab were included in this study. Patients were prospectively followed with routine cardiac evaluation. Before and after administration of trastuzumab blood samples for NT-proBNP were also taken. Results: The median age was 48.5 year (range: 26–74). Hypertension and obesity were two most common co-morbidities. The median duration application of trastuzumab was 52 weeks. During median 14.5 (3–33) months follow-up cardiac adverse events occurred in 5 (9.6%) patients and 2 out of 5 was grade III–IV heart failure. Both patients had preserved left ventricular ejection fraction and no symptom of heart failure before trastuzumab but older than 65 years old and had diabetes mellitus and obesity. High level of NT-proBNP (> 300 ng/ml) was observed in both patients and heart failure recovery was not observed. There was statistically significant difference regarding body mass index (p = 0.004) and diabetes mellitus (p = 0.002) between patients with and without cardiotoxicity. Conclusion: Although, cardiac biomarkers still cannot replace routine cardiac monitoring, natriuretic peptides may provide additional tool for detection of patients with high risk of cardiotoxicity and early detection of cardiotoxicity. Key Words: breast cancer, trastuzumab, heart failure, left ventricular dysfunction, natriuretic peptides

Cisplatin plus oral etoposide (EoP) combination is more effective than paclitaxel in patients with advanced breast cancer pretreated with anthracyclines: a randomised phase III trial of Turkish Oncology Group

Our objective was to determine whether oral etoposide and cisplatin combination (EoP) is superior to paclitaxel in the treatment of advanced breast cancer (ABC) patients pretreated with anthracyclines. From December 1997 to August 2003, 201 patients were randomised, 100 to EoP and 101 to paclitaxel arms. Four patients in each arm were ineligible. The doses of etoposide and cisplatin were 50 mg p.o. twice a day for 7 days and 70 mg m−2 intravenously (i.v.) on day 1, respectively, and it was 175 mg m−2 on day 1 for paclitaxel. Both treatments were repeated every 3 weeks. A median of four cycles of study treatment was given in both arms. The response rate obtained in the EoP arm was significantly higher (36.3 vs 22.2%; P=0.038). Median response duration was longer for the EoP arm (7 vs 4 months) (P=0.132). Also, time to progression was significantly in favour of the EoP arm (5.5 vs 3.9 months; P=0.003). Median overall survival was again significantly longer in the EoP arm (14 vs 9.5 months; P=0.039). Toxicity profile of both groups was similar. Two patients in each arm were lost due to febrile neutropenia. The observed activity and acceptable toxicity of EoP endorses the employment of this combination in the treatment of ABC following anthracyclines